Fastener for sliding closures



June 3, 1952 A. G. DEAN FASTENER FOR SLIDING CLOSURES Filed Nov. 17, 1948 q ICIL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

=Hlberk (1 Dean.

ATTORNEY June 3, 1952 A. G. DEAN 2,599,511

I FASTENER FOR SLIDING CLOSURES Filed Nov. 17, 1948 s Sheets-Sheet z BY MW' A. W

A TTORNEV June 3, 1952 I A. G. DEAN 2,599,511

FASTENER FOR SLIDING CLOSURES Filed Nov. 17, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR. Q1ber% (I. Deam "m OKWULLQ, A .QA-

ATTORNEY Patented June 3, 1952 EASTENER FOR SLIDING-. LOSURES Albert. G... D an, Nar rth,.1 essignor to. The "Budd Company, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporaier; o ie i ylw Application N oyemher 17 1948, Serial No. 60,529

8 Claims.

hi nvention relatesr afastene or slidin c osure a d bjec he ovi ion o i nr remen s' Qneoin rti i ob ect ofth mt ni pn is-tonroride an mn oved; closur iaste v hich exerts. a null-ins. action or to. ock-ins .i rih closed position. and. whic enertsa nushine tion prior to. r leas n he. c osure. or ope in Another. object. is to. pr s de a iastener which is. operated by a. single manual onere ineniemher .01: handle and whiehreq ires only one. hand. tor

operation Another object. is; toproizide .a. fastener with a single. manualaoperating; element whioh. movies in a. natural .marmer .and direction in both closing and: opening actions to perform all of the. requiredoperations.

Another object is. .to. provide. a closure fastener which securely locksin the closed and pulled-up position.

Another object. isto. provide a closure iastener in which the manual operating element lifts the latchubar after pushing the door a short distance .away .from'. the frame. before releasing'the member-hasbeen pushedover to-the closed and locked position. I

"Ihe-abouo and other objects and advantages of the-inventionwill be apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment,

reference beingmade to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure-1- is an -inside elevation of aslidingclosure and itsframe providedxwith a tastener embodying the present 'mvention F gure ,2. enlareedielevatio ro .tas-

tene owne m re-ew 'lesu mor e r- 9 Petition F r 3 i -s m l ric- E .h1 i showiee penises i a the. dcorweat er trip strikes the nam .Eienre acOrIespondin Section through the eatherstrip, thesection. being taken onthe Figureaflis a view similar to Fig. Zbutshowing the parts in the position in whichgthehiomlal ope n 9181mm is m ybackto nerm new ens-se s keep r... n a the inertia of the door has not caused the latch to engage the keeper;

Figure 5 is aview similar to, Fig. Zhntshowing the parts infully closed position;

Figure 5a is a partial section taken on. the line {am-5110f Fig, 5'; I

Figure 6 13 a..view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the parts when the opening of the door is started; Figure 6a. is a corresponding section. taken on th .1. .ne.6aj-Eic of'Fi 6i Figure '7 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing theparts when the latch. has just begun to. be

lifted from its keeper;

Figure 7a. is a corresponding section on the line 'lai.,'la ofFig. 7;

Figured is a. view similar to. Fig. 2. but showing the, latch in raised position and the door releasedifor opening;' Figure 9 is. a horizontal section taken on the line 8+9, of Fig, 1' to show the fastener in top plan view;

Figure 10 is a horizontal section taken on the line I0--.l.0.of Fig.5; and Figure .11 is avertical section taken on theline +11 Fig.4..

Thefclosure fastener of the present invention is especially suitable for use onthe sliding doors of r ilway mail and bag age cars whi 1 are silhjectftoi being frozen shut by iceincold weather, snowmen normally arefdificult. to force open. Th closurelltastener hereby provided furnish es; a strong opening force which breaks. the ice seal so the door can be started to open. The fastener also provides a. stron rcez c s ueeznc he do r o its ully closed i on where i t ght a ainsti s ra a d-neo its W atherstripwhereby to provide a tight weather seal. In sorting these and its other functions, the fastener is easily manipulated by one hand.

Theiclos'ure I or door in, as shown especially .in Rig. 1, is mounted by roller hangers 1.1 to, slide 011 l flterhead supporting, her: orrail 12 relative to. itsopening in the car Wallto brin itsfront ed e J.:1Q.Ward the. vertical side M of the door rrame. A weat lerstrip. I15, which. may be carried by Qithfili he. 9.01 Or theirame, here by the door, is auee e between the door and f'ramein the el te q iti n of the door. Th o ure.- ie te ier; which is. generally indi- -dh m m e n ume al. 2.0-. mounted o the. door its. latchke per mil is; mount- ..ed on the-frame. A brace ZZbIiaCesthe out e or. thepin Z I. .tothe frame.

flhe fastener .211 is made as, a self-contained unit with itsrnoving parts carried'be-tween. areal notch in the front plate 25.

plate 24 and a front plate 25, the assembly being secured to the door by bolts 26 and the plates being spaced apart by sleeves 21 on the bolts. The operating parts of the fastener comprises a handle or manual operator 28 and a latch bar 29, the latch bar having a notch 30 in its lower edge adapted to engage the keeper pin 2 I.

The handle 28 is mounted by a pivot pin 32 to one or both of the plates 24, 25. It is shown as being mounted on the rear plate alone since clearance space, such as an aperture or slot, would need to be provided by the latch bar for the pin if it extended through to the front plate. With the closure confinement of the moving parts provided by the plates 24, 25, the single plate anchorage for the pin 32 is found sufilcient to keep the parts in proper position and give adequate strength but the two-plate anchorage arrangement may be provided if found desirable.

The latch bar 29 is secured to the handle 28 by a pivot pin 33 and when not otherwise held up, the latch bar is adapted to rest with its lower edge on the sleeve 21 of the front bolt 26. The front end of the latch bar 29 is bevelled on the lower edge to provide a cam face 34 which is adapted to ride up on the keeper pin 2| when the door is closed. The parts are so arranged that; in any position of the handle 28, the cam face 34 will engage the pin 2|, if not held above it, whereby to avoid an end blow of the latch bar against the pin. To assist in easy movement of the cam face over the pin, the latter is provided with a loose roller sleeve 35.

On its upper edge, as shown in Fig. 6, the latch bar 29 is provided with a front abutment 36 and, as shown in Fig. 2, is also provided with a rear abutment 31, these abutments being adapted to be engaged in certain positions by means on the handle, such as the offset portion 38, by which the latch bar may be moved in certain ways by the handle. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2, the handle holds the latch bar down when its offset portion 38 engages the front abutment 36; and, as shown in Fig. 7, raises the latch bar when the offset portion 33 engages the rear abutment 31.

The abutments 36, 31 of the latch bar may be formed on opposite ends of a notch, and, as shown, the latch bar is widened at the rear end, as at'39,- to properly locate the rear abutment 31 relative to the offset operating portion 38 of the handle. For the purpose of limiting the action of the offset portion 38 of the handle on the latch bar, the front plate 25 is provided with a front abutment 40 and a rear abutment 4|, which abutments may be formed on opposite ends of a The rear plate 24, for convenience in manufacture is made with abutments like front plate 25, although in the present form the notches inthe rear plate do not cooperate with the handle. In certain views where the front plate is left out for clarity, the abutments of the rear plate are referred to.

. The operation of the fastener is shown in Figs. 2 to 8. In Fig. 2 the door is approaching the closed position and the cam face 34 of the latch tion'is for the operator to pull the handle for- 4 ward as he pulls the door closed, and this is the position shown in Fig. 2.

As the door continues to close, the latch bar will continue to ride over its keeper pin to the position of Fig. 3 where the Weatherstrip I5 just engages the door frame. Here several situations may develop depending on how the handle was held and how fast the door was closed. If the door is closed rapidly, it will compress the weatherstrip and at once allow the notch 30 of the latch bar to drop down over the keeper pin 2| as shown in Fig. 5. Either gravity or gravity assisted by handle pressure will cause the latch bar to drop down on its keeper.

If the latch bar does not engage its keeper pin in the first forward movement of the door, the handle may be manipulated, specifically being turned toward but not completely to the rear, to cause the latch bar to move forward and engage its keeper pin beforethe Weatherstrip is compressed. Subsequent forward movement of the handle serves to pull the door tight by reaction upon the keeper pin to complete the closing movement of the door and thereby compress the weatherstrip. The start of this compressive closing action is shown'in Fi 4, wherein the dotted lines show the non-engaging position of the latch bar (the same as in Fig. 3) and the full lines show the retracted position of the handle and the corresponding pin-engaging position of the latch bar. Forward swinging movement of the handle from the full-line position of Fig. 4 to the position of Fig. 5 moves the shifting axis of the handle-latch pivot pin 33 around the fixed axis of the handle pivot pin 32 from the dotted position to the full line position of Fig. 5, thereby pulling the door tightly closed. It will be noted from Fig. 5 that in the fully closed position, the axis of pin 33 passes dead center position on a line joining keeper pin 2| and handle pivot pin 32, thereby locking the parts in drawn-up position. Here'the handle offset 38 rests against the front plate abutment 40 to stop the forward movement.

The start of, the opening action is shown in Fig. 6. Here the handle has been swung to the rear to move the pin 33 down and forward to push or cam the door back by reaction of the latch'bar against the keeper pin. By a comparison of action centers and effective lever arms, it will be seen that the camming action to open the door, like'the final closing action, is a very powerful one. Even a heavy ice seal can readily be broken by the door-opening action.

To continue with the door-opening action, Fig. 7 shows the handle offset 38 engaging the rear abutment 31 of the latch bar for lifting it, and Fig. 8 shows the parts after the latch bar has been lifted clear of its keeper pin. Here the handle offset 38 has engaged the rear abutment 4| of the front plate 25. Further rearward pushing action on the handle beyond this point servesto push the door open further.

It will now be evident that the invention'provides a simple, strong and convenient fastener for sliding closures and one which may readily be manipulated by natural movements of one hand.

It will also be evident that the invention may be variously embodied and modified in keeping with the present disclosure. And while the description places the fastener on a closure'and the keeper on its frame, it will be evident that the location of parts may be reversed so far as applicable to such transposed use. What is claimed is: "1. A fastener fora closure mounted to slide in a frame toward and from a keeper pin on the frame, comprising, combination, a manual latch operatingmember mounted on a pivot on the closure, a latch bar pivoted to said latch.- eperating member atone side of its own pivot, said; latch bar having a cam-shaped end adapted to rideup on and over the keeper pin and having a notch adapted to drop down on and closely embrace the keeper pin on opposite sides when the closure is moved toward its closed position,

means on the closure for holding the end of the latch bar up into position for its cam to engage and ride up on the keeper pin, the latchoperating member and latch bar pivots being so located that the latch bar pivot moves around the latch-operating member pivot and crossesa deadcen-ter line passing through the keeper pin and the latch-operating member pivot when the Vlatch eoper'ating member is operated, whereby movement of the latch-operating member will give the latch bar a pull movement in passing tciclosedposition and a push movement in passing to.- open. position, and whereby the latch bar will be securely held inpulled-up' position, and said .latcheoperating, member and latch bar having interengaging elements by which the end of thelatch bar is lifted up by the latch-operating memberin moving. to the open position and is urged down by the latch-operating member in moving to the closed position.

2. A- fastener for a closure mounted to slide in aframe toward and from a keeper on the frame, comprising in combination, a manual latch-operating member pivoted on the closure, a latch bar pivoted to said latch-operating memher at one side of its own pivot, said latch bar having keeper camming and engaging portions adapted to ride over and closely engagethe keeper at opposite sides to provide aconnection therewith to take a pull in closing and a push in opening, tiie latch-operating member and bar pivots being so located that the latch bar pivot moves around the latch-operating member pivot and crosses a dead-center line passing through the keeper pin and the latch-operating mem ber pivot when the latch-operating member is operated, the latch-operating member and latch bar having interengaging elements by which the latch-operating member raises the latch bar in moving to the open position and urges the latch bar down in moving to the closed position.

3. A fastener for a closure mounted to slide in a. frame toward and from one side of the frame which is provided with a keeper and a resilient sealing strip, said fastener comprising in combination, a latch-operating member pivoted on the closure, a latch bar pivoted to said latchoperating member on one side of its own pivot, said latch bar having elements adapted to cam over and closely engage the keeper on opposite sides to provide a connection therewith to take a pull in closing and a push in opening, the latchoperating member carrying the pivot of the latch bar in such manner that the latch bar pivot crosses a dead-center line passing through the keeper and the latch-operating member pivot when the latch-operating member is operated so as to pull the latch bar pivot in moving to closed position and a push movement in moving to open position, the latch-operating member and latch bar having elements which interengage toward opposite ends of the latch-operating member movement to lift the latch bar by interengagement of said interengaging elements on the latchoperating member and latch bar in moving to opening position, and to urge the latch bar down in moving toward closed position, and; whereby the parts are securely held in closed position, the movement of the latch bar along its length being greater than the movement of re-expansion in the resilient sealing means whereby in the closed position the sealing means is compressed and in the opening movement the parts are pulled free regardless of ice formation or the like at the sealed edge. t I

4, A fastener for a sliding closure adapted to cooperate with a keeper on the closure frame, comprising in combination, a latch bar carried by the closure on a movable pivot and having a releasable closely engaging connection with said keeper to take a'pull in closing and a push in opening, and a latch-operating member associated with said latch bar and mounted on, a pivot in such manner that movement of the latch-operating member causes the latch bar pivot to cross a dead-center line passing through the keeper and the latch-operating memberpivot when the latch operating member is opera-ted so as to pull the latch barpivotin moving to closed position and a push movement inmoving to open position, and said latch-operating member having elements for engaging andmoving said latch bar about its pivot in one or both extreme positions but the elements standing clear of thelatch bar inintermediatepositions.

5'. A fastenerfor a. sliding closuremember having movement relative to a frame member and wherein a keeper is mountedon one. memberyand the fastener is mounted on the other member, said fastener including a latch having a releasable closely engaging connection with said keepier to take a pull in closi'ng and a push in opening, a latch-operating; lever mountedlon a fixed pivot and carrying a pivot for said latch, in such position that the latch pivot moves across a deadcenter line passing through said fix'ed pivot and keeper when'the latch-operating lever is Gperated so as to produce a longitudinal force through the latch when the latch-operating lever is moved about its fixed pivot and to securely hold the parts in latched position against movement along the line of centers, the latch being gravity actuated to engage the keeper, means to limit the downward movement of the latch to a position where it is held up at a height to engage the keeper when the closure is moved toward it, and interengaging parts on said latch-operating lever and latch for moving the latch about its pivot by the latch-operating lever in certain positions near the end of the opening and closing movements.

6. A fastener for a sliding closure member having movement relative to a frame member and wherein a keeper is mounted on one of said members and a fastener is mounted on the other of said members, said fastener including a latchoperating arm mounted on a fixed pivot on said member, a latch pivoted to said latch-operating arm at one side of the fixed pivot, the latch being gravity actuated and so formed as to ride over and engage the keeper, means to support said latch in keeper-engaging position when the closure and frame members are moved toward each other, the latch pivot being movable across the dead-center line to cause the latch-operating arm to move the latch longitudinally in latching and releasing it and to securely hold it in latched position, abutment and abutment-engaging means between said latch-operating arm and latch at opposite ends of the latch-operating arm movement to cause said latch-operating arm to move the latch up near one extreme position and to push it down near the other extreme position, and other abutment and abutment-engaging means between said latch-operating arm and fixed parts for stopping the movement of said latch-operating arm and thereby stopping the movement of the latch.

'7. A fastener for a sliding closure member having movement relative to a frame member and wherein a keeper is mounted on one of said members and a fastener is mounted on the other of said members, said fastener including a latchoperating arm mounted on a fixed pivot on said frame member, a latch pivoted to said latch-operating arm at one side of the fixed pivot, the latch being gravity actuated and so formed as to ride over and engage the keeper, means to support said latch in keeper-engaging position, the latch pivot being movable across a dead-center line passing through said latch-operating arm pivot and keeper tocause the latch-operating arm to move the latch longitudinally in latching and releasing it and to move it across the dead-center line to securely hold it in latching position, abutment and abutment-engaging means between said latch-operating arm and latch at opposite ends of the latch-operating arm to cause said latch-operating arm to move the latch up near one extreme position and to push it down near the other extreme position, and other abutment and abutment-engaging means between said latch-operating arm and fixed parts for stopping the movement of said latch-operating arm and thereby stopping the movement of the latch,said latch-operating arm being mounted to extend above its fixed pivot and moving thereover between extreme positions whereby gravity acting on the latch-operating arm tends to hold the parts in either extreme position.

8. A fastener for sliding closures adapted to cooperate with a keeper pin on a frame. comprising in combination, a latch-operating arm mounted on a fixed pivot on the closure, stop means between the latch-operating arm and parts on the closure for limiting the movement of the latch-operating arm in opposite extreme posi-- tions after free operating movement in an are between the stop means, a latch pivoted to said latch-operating arm at one side of the fixed pivot in a position to cross a dead-center line passing through the keeper pin and fixed pivot when the latch-operating arm is operated, said latch having a notch adapted to closely embrace said keeper pin for a push and pull action thereagainst, abutment and abutment-engaging means between the latch-operating arm and latch providing limited free movement therebetween, the distance of free movement provided by the abutment and abutment-engaging means between the latch-operating arm and latch being less than that between the stop means for the latch-operating arm whereby the latch-operating arm moves the latch up or down about its pivot on the latchoperating arm near each extreme position, and means for holding the latch up to a position for engaging the keeper regardless of the position 01' the latch-operating arm, the latch pivot moving past the dead-center line into a position where the parts are securely held just before the latchoperating arm engages one of its stop means.

ALBERT G. DEAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,062,597 Moore Dec. 1, 1936 2,428,571 Kump Oct. '7, 1947 

